Product Description

The searingly honest and at times harrowing autobiography of the former Liverpool, Aston Villa and England striker. Exposes the dark and often seedy world hidden behind the glamorous facade of professional football. 'I was a mess. I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't structure my day properly. I couldn't face having a shower or getting dressed. Those all seemed like major events I didn't want to confront.' Once the most charismatic and expensive player in the new Premiership flooded with cash, Stan Collymore had, by the age of 28, booked himself into The Priory to treat his depression, close to self-destruction and unable to get his head round playing at all. Along the way, he had been the goalscorer nobody wanted to congratulate, the centre-forward no one knew how to manage, a deeply reluctant star in a tabloid culture that saw him make the front pages as often as the back, and that waited for him to crack up or lash out. When he eventually did, it was, infamously, inevitably, at his then celebrity girlfriend, Ulrika Jonsson. But then retired from football in 2001 and finding himself in the commentary box, he proved he did care about the game, rather too much perhaps, sounding like a fan as much as an ex-player -- and at a stroke he had more in common with the rest of the nation. He knew it was all so much more than a game, and what happened on the field was only a reflection of what was going on inside players' heads. The contradictions remain. A man, who had a steady stream of celebrity women falling at his feet, shamed by his voyeurism in a Cannock car park; a star with everything who was once discovered by his wife tightening a belt around his neck; a loving dad of two whose own father walked out of the marital home and who Collymore continues to blot from his memory to this day; a footballer who abstains from drugs, yet who needs therapy at Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous; the loner slated for his aloofness who found critical acclaim as a football pundit on national prime-time radio. This is Stan Collymore's own life story, the real person on his flawed character and personal demons, telling it like you have never seen before -- raw and uncut.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110595 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'Once out of the game he had long seemed anxious to escape, Collymore became singularly placed to articulate some of the madness that attends it.' Observer

Four Four Two
5* 'by turns explosive, poignant, profound and funny'

Birmingham Post
'one of the best sporting autobiographies of the year'

Customer Reviews

A Very Honest Account
I read the book initially with intrepidation. I was worried that this was the book to set the story straight - or rather for Stan Collymore to say "I am not to blame". However, what the book does tell the reader is that Stanley Collymore doesn't apportion blame on his well publised downfall from grace, but fairly and squarely he puts the onus on himself. The book is hard hitting as well as very honest. It covers the highs of his career at Southend United,Nottingham Forest & Liverpool with the lows at Aston Villa and Real Oviedo. It portrays the backstabbing in the game from his agent to his managers to racist players. It throws the light on the football managers who praised him and appreciated his unique skill but who couldn't handle him in Peter Taylor and John Gregory. It also give a direct and humbling account of how his love for Ulrika Jonnson was misplaced and how he manages to hurt those closest to him. It gives Stans personal insight into the Ulrika incident and you come away feeling Stan Collymore, though sinned was sinned against more. Its a cracking read and I finished it in three sessions. I have read a few football biographies and autobiographies over the past 12 months including ones on Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Moore, the difference between them is that this book doesn't try to put the author is a better light then he deserves. Well done Stanley Victor Collymore - I hope that you can lay your demons to rest.

A lesson in what's behind tabloid stories
I'm not a football fan, I don't like autobiographies, and anything connected with 'celebrity' culture leaves me cold. Nonetheless, I'd read an interview with Stan Collymore in which he talked very openly about his struggle with clinical depression and the role that 'dogging' played in that. Contrary to the image constructed of him in the tabloids, he came across as someone with depth and intelligence, and the courage to articulate uncomfortable truths about himself. So when recently I wanted a change from my usual diet of textbooks and middlebrow fiction, I decided to buy the full story.

Every time I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. Stan expands on many of the stories that we think we know about because we happened to scan the tabloid headlines as we leave the newsagent's shop. It left me realising that my own critical distance and cynicism about the tabloids is not nearly enough.

He holds your interest. However disinterested you might be in the world of celebrity and football, the real story here is of a person who could be you or me struggling with crippling depression, made all the worse because those around him failed to believe or understand how someone with his money and success could be depressed. In fact, he would probably have got more support and understanding if he'd said he was gay - at least the tabloids have to be more careful about taunting people about that these days.

As an aside, one of the people who comes out of this story as an angel is Davina McCall. At many of Stan's lowest points, Davina is on the end of a phone with life-saving sanity and support, and is just another example of someone who deserves more dignity than the tabloids have given her. Ulrika Johnson, by contrast, comes across as someone who still needs to tackle her demons in the way that Stan & Davina have.

It's well-crafted as a page turner, but also leaves room for Stan's personality to come through. It's not about football, it's about the human condition, about frailty, and about moving on and finding new directions. I felt more human after reading it, and that's not a bad recommendation for a book.

6 stars if I could - Stan the Man.
Got this book christmas day, had it done by boxing day. Best autobiography Ive read and Ive read tons. Makes you wonder why Michael Owen had released a book,what story has he got to tell?Ooo couple of goals here and there,anythin significant?Collymores story is very sad however very warming,on what was a fantastic footballer but was sadly worn out by personal problems.Also learn what a set of looneys,and how shocking the media behave in todays society.This story confirms Collymore is not a monster,disgrace of society - just an ill man who was superb at the sport loves, trying his best to recover. Read it,nuff said.Well in Stan the Man.